SUN DEVILS OFF TO TEXAS
The Sun Devil men's hoops team (9-2) travels to Lubbock for a Saturday, Dec. 22, 1 p.m. MT/Noon CT tilt with Texas Tech that will be shown FOX Sports Arizona as well as on FSSW Plus in Texas and FCS Central, and Arizona Sports 620 AM has the radio call with Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd. ASU was 8-1 for just the fourth time in 38 seasons before it dropped a 78-61 game to DePaul on Dec. 12, but then defeated Dartmouth 61-42 on Dec. 15 and has a week off prior to the Texas Tech tilt. It is the school's first meeting since an 81-75 Sun Devil win on Dec. 8, 1988, in Lubbock. ASU records show the Red Raiders lead the series 22-19, but the Sun Devils have won the past four, but none of them recent. The last Red Raider win vs. the Sun Devils? An 85-68 victory on Jan. 12, 1957, in Lubbock. The Sun Devils are trying to reach last year's win total on Saturday.

TALKING BLOCKSJunior Jordan Bachynski is one of the top shot-blockers in the nation with 53 through 11 games, but an overlooked block statistic is keeping it in play. Of his 53 blocks, more than 60 percent (32) have resulted in direct possessions for ASU, and only six have gone out of bounds. He now has 114 career blocks and is seventh on the Sun Devil career list. The Sun Devil career record is 191 set by Mario Bennett from 1991-95. Next up on the list is Jeff Pendergraph, who had 131 from 2005-09...ASU's 13 blocks vs. Cal State Northridge on Dec. 8 was the most since it had 13 vs. Washington on Jan. 9, 2003...in the first 197 games of Coach Sendek's ASU tenure, ASU had nine blocks in a game four times. It has had at least nine blocks six times this season.

3-DOT DEVIL DATAIn a 71-63 Dec. 5 win over Hartford, ASU shot a season-best .563 from the floor (27-of-48) and had season-lows in turnovers and fouls (10 each)...ASU has used the same starting lineup (Jahii, Evan, Carrick, Jon and Jordan) after having 12 starting lineups last year, the most since the 2003-04 squad also used a dozen...ASU is 52-8 (.867) under Coach Sendek when it shoots 50 percent...ASU is 8-1 at home (7-10 last year)...ASU placed five players in double digits for the third time this season vs. Cal State Northridge (Dec. 8), as it also did it in back-to-back games vs. Central Arkansas (Nov. 10) and Florida A&M (Nov. 18)...ASU is averaging just 11.8 turnovers in the past five tilts...Jonathan Gilling has 83 rebounds (7.5 per game) on the year after notching 54 in 728 minutes last season. How much better was he from December to February and March of last year? He averaged 8.8 minutes in the first eight games and 9.0 points in his final 22 games.

YES, IT WAS THE FIRST Junior Jordan Bachynski's13 points, 12 boards and 12 blocks vs. Cal State Northridge on Dec. 8 is the first triple-double in Sun Devil history. He also set the school record with 12 blocks, topping his own school mark of nine set in the opener on Nov. 10 vs. Central Arkansas. It marked the first triple-double by a Pac-10/12 player since Daniel Hackett had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 dimes vs. South Carolina on Nov. 17, 2007. The 12 blocks is tied for the second-most by a Pac-10/12 player along with Stanford's Brook Lopez, who had a dozen vs. USC on Jan. 25, 2007.

JACOBSEN UPDATE A freshmen from a local high school is looking solid recently and this one's name isn't Jahii. Hamilton High School's Eric Jacobsen had 16 points vs. Hartford on Dec. 5, the most by a Sun Devil freshmen off the bench since Trent Locketthad 17 vs. Texas State on Nov. 16, 2009...team's youngest player (born in June of 1994)...in past five games he is averaging six points and 14.4 minutes...entered Sacramento State Dec. 1 game with 10 rebounds on the year and three offensive rebounds and then used his size 17 shoes to post six offensive boards and nine total rebounds in 16 minutes.

CARRICK UPDATE Senior Carrick Felix(B.S. Communications, 2012) is averaging 17.0 points and 8.0 rebounds and shooting 53-of-86 (.626) and 11-of-27 (.408) from the three-point stripe in the past eight games...CSN game marked sixth time he played turnover free in a game (minimum 15 minutes)...Pac-12 Player of the Week for his efforts from Nov. 26-Dec. 2...after not having a double-double in the first 65 games of career he posted them in back-to-back games, getting 11 points and 11 boards vs. Hartford (Dec. 5) and 21 points and career-high 12 boards vs. Sacramento St. (Dec. 1) and now has three in his career...nine field goals and five assists vs. Sacramento St. were career-bests, as was 14 rebounds and five blocks vs. Dartmouth on Dec. 15...eight 20-point games and three this year (24 vs. Arkansas, 21 vs. Sacramento St. and vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff).

SOME NOTES ON HERB'S SCORINGIt is early in the year, but in looking at the numbers easy to see that ASU is averaging 75.7 points per game. In Coach Sendek's final five seasons at NC State (2001-2006), his team's averaged 73.7 points per game (192 games) including 75.4 points per game in 2001-02. His final team at NC State averaged 74.5 points per game. How does that 74.5 points per game from 2005-06 compare to the current Pac-12? It would have been the third-highest scoring team in the Pac-12 in each of the past two seasons.

CARRICK IS KEY How big of a key is Carrick Felixto Sun Devil success in 2012-13? Consider this: he averaged 14.4 points in Sun Devil wins last year and 8.8 losses. How important are those 5.6 points per game? ASU's scoring margin in 31 games last year was -5.3 pp.

Jah-HEE UPDATEAs of Tuesday (Dec. 18), Jahii (say it Jah-hEE) Carson was fourth-best freshman scorer in nation at 17.9 points ppg...vs. Creighton he became the fourth Sun Devil freshman to score 30...60 free throws made and 83 free throw attempts entering Tuesday games was tops among freshman in the nation and tied for 11th overall...five 20-point games (30 vs. No. 14 Creighton, 21 vs. CS Northridge and Cornell, 20 vs. Hartford and Florida A&M) already is tied for fourth-best among ASU freshmen....with 59 assists and 63 field goals made, he has played a part in 42 percent of team's 289 buckets....30 points vs. Creighton is tied for sixth-most points scored by a Sun Devil in the Coach Sendek era.

Evan Gordon UPDATE The 29-point effort by Evan Gordonvs. Sacramento State on Dec. 1 was his career high. He entered the game 7-of-34 (.206) from the three-point stripe but was 5-of-9, and it was his ninth game of 20+ points going back to his two years at Liberty. He then came back with 20 vs. Cal State Northridge on Dec. 12. He averaged 14.4 points as a sophomore at Liberty in 2010-11 and made 112 three-pointers in his two-year career. Evan led Liberty in scoring with 14.4 points per game (eighth in Big South) in his sophomore year (2010-11) before transferring to ASU and has 945 career points. He started the year 7-of-34 (.205) from the three-point stripe, but he is 14-of-34 (.412) in his past five games from long distance.

DEVELOPING BIG MAN After not playing his senior year in high school (2007-08) due to an injury and then taking two years off from hoops for LDS Mission to Miami (2008-10), Jordan Bachynski (ba-CHIN-ski) is developing into a solid post presence. One thing to keep in mind about his development is how two of ASU's past big men developed, as in his senior year (2008-09) Jeff Pendergraph led the nation in field goal percentage (.660) en route to become the first pick of the second round in the 2009 NBA Draft, while Eric Boateng, who played for the 2012 Great Britain Olympic team, led the Pac-10 in field goal percentage in 2009-10 (.665)...has three double-doubles on the year and four in his career including a the first triple-double in ASU history on Dec. 8 with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 12 blocks vs. Cal State Northridge.

COACH OF YEAR The Pac-12 has five current coaches who have earned Pac-10 Coach of the Year. Herb Sendekearned it in 2009-10, while Sean Miller (2010-11), Lorenzo Romar (2011-12, 2008-09 and 2004-05) and Ben Howland (2005-06) earned kudos at their school. Mike Montgomery did it four times at Stanford (2003-04, 2002-03, 1999-2000 and 1998-99).

EARLY GAME NOTES ASU held Arkansas-Pine Bluff to .297 from the floor on Nov. 28 (19-of-64), the tenth-best defensive effort under Coach Sendek at ASU...the Sun Devils forced 23 Cornell turnovers on Nov. 20, the fourth-most in the Coach Sendek era and the most since they forced 24 against San Diego State on Dec. 19, 2009...the Cornell win marked the 20th time under Herb Sendekthe Sun Devils have come back from a half-time deficit. ASU trailed 25-22 but came back to win the second half 42-28. ASU had 14 steals, the most since it had 14 vs. Oregon State on March 5, 2011...ASU put five guys in double-digits in back-to-back games in its 97-70 win over Florida A&M on Nov. 18, the first time it has done that in consecutive games since Dec. 23 and Dec. 29, 2008...ASU's 97 points vs. Florida A&M is the third-most in the Coach Sendek era, while the 45 first-half points is tied for the ninth-most in his seven seasons...ASU had 69 field goal attempts vs. Central Arkansas on Nov. 10, its most since it had 70 in the first game of the Coach Sendek era on Nov. 13, 2006... ASU's 49 first-half points was the most since it led Stanford 54-22 on Feb. 2, 2010 and is tied for fifth-most under Coach Sendek.

TOUGH TO SCORE In his 617-game head coaching career, only three teams have scored 100 points against Herb Sendek. No team has posted triple digits against him in past 341 games. The last team to do it was top-ranked Duke on Feb. 14, 2002 (108-71 at Cameron).

TRANSFERS The Sun Devils have two newcomers playing this year who have shown the ability to make three-pointers on the D-I level, but unfortunately both of them had to watch the game last year. In addition to Evan Gordon, Bo Barnes, a 6-4 wing from Scottsdale Christian in Arizona, averaged 6.9 points at Hawaii in 2010-11 and was one of only two players to appear in all 32 games. He made more three-point field goals (57) than any freshman in school history and buried at least five three pointers four times.

JAHII BACKGROUND The son of Vanae and Jonathan Carson, JahiiCarson is rumored to have dunked at 13 while being only 5-3 and it is hard to doubt that. He has big-time hops and energy in his 5-10 frame...ASU's top in-state recruit in decades as he was a 2011 Parade Magazine Second-Team All-American and Arizona Republic Big Schools Player of the Year...racked up Arizona first-team honors from all over...set NYC holiday tournament record with 36.3 ppg in three games in December of 2010...set Mesa High School season marks for points per game (32.2) and assists (6.6) after setting records in junior year (23.7/5.6)...team was 21-6 in senior season and advanced to Class 5A state semifinals...also averaged over two steals per game in senior season...led team to 25-5 mark in junior season...how about these numbers for Jahii in the 2011 Class 5A state tournament?...58-point effort in a semifinal loss to Phoenix Brophy Prep (25-of-38 from field)...37-point outing in first round win over Tucson.

NBA=NEW BASKETBALL ASSISTANTS A three-time conference Coach of the Year entering his 20th season, 49-year old Coach Sendek went the NBA route to fill his staff in August, as he named Eric Musselmanand Larry Greer as assistants, the first time since the spring of 2008 Coach Sendek had to hire an assistant. Greer spent the past five seasons working with Nate McMillan at the Portland Trail Blazers as an assistant coach (2011-12) and advance scout (2007-2011). Musselman just recently finished earning league Coach of the Year honors with the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA D-League. His squad had eight NBA call-ups and won the regular season title with a 38-12 record, including wins in 21 of the final 23 games. He coached the Venezuela National Team in 2011 and 2012 at the Pre-Olympics in Argentina while his 2011 team averaged a tournament-best 94.8 points. His NBA experience includes leading the Sacramento Kings to a 101.3 points per game mark in 2006-07, eighth-best in the league as the Kings sold out every home game. In 2002-03 he was second in NBA Coach of the Year voting as he led the Golden State Warriors to their two best seasons in ten years, including a 51-31 (.622) home record. The Warriors were the most improved team in the league with 17 more wins and the second-leading scoring team in the league at 102.4 points per game. He has served as an assistant under Mike Fratello (Memphis), Lon Kruger (Atlanta), Chuck Daley (Orlando) and Doc Rivers (Magic).

HEAD COACHHerb Sendek, 107-98 (.533) at ASU, is in his 20th season as a head coach in 2011-2012 and has averaged 18.6 wins per season. He led the NC State Wolfpack to five straight NCAA appearances from 2002-06 and is now 361-256 (.585) and was 191-132 (.591) at NC State. The 49-year-old (born Feb. 22, 1963) Pittsburgh, Pa., native is the fourth-youngest coach in the Pac-12. Only Duke posted more ACC wins (regular season and ACC Tournament) than NC State's 53 from 2002-2006. Here is an overlooked note is his 10-year stay at NC State. To compare it to the Pac-10, since league expanded to 10 teams in 1978-79, only seven coaches have coached at their schools for at least 10 years: Lute Olson (24/UA), Ralph Miller (19/OSU), Mike Montgomery (18/Stanford), Ernie Kent (13/UO), Ben Braun (12/Cal), Lorenzo Romar (11th at UW) and Ben Howland (10th at UCLA).